Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Acting Premier. Regrettably we have lost close to 270 jobs at the Weston Shops, 130 or so being transferred to Calgary, another 130 or 140 people being laid off in Manitoba, and last evening we heard that CP is looking at all options of the Weston Shops, the other 400 people that work directly in the Weston Shops complex. One of the options they are looking at is the sale of the Weston Shops complex, which of course has raised considerable concern and fear in the workers at the plant and, of course, for all Manitobans.

The Premier (Mr. Filmon) met with CP in the first week of September. I would like to ask the Acting Premier, did CP inform the provincial government of their plans to review the total Weston Shops complex operation, including the option to sell that complex?

Hon. James Downey (Deputy Premier): Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to indicate that it is my understanding that it is a matter of a different organizational structure that is being considered of the Weston Shops, that there are several options that are being looked at. I will take as notice the specific question as it relates to discussions which may or may not have taken place between the Premier and CP.

Mr. Doer: I am a little concerned that the Deputy Premier, the Minister responsible for Industry, Trade and Tourism has not been informed by the Premier of the exact nature of the discussions with CP. A lot of people work there, and it is the Deputy Premier's direct responsibility to be concerned about the jobs and maintaining the jobs in our community.

I would like to ask the Deputy Premier why he has not been informed by the Premier. It has been almost four weeks now since this meeting took place between Canadian Pacific and the Premier. What kind of communication system do they have in this so-called government? In light of the fact that we have just lost close to 200 jobs with the sale of Richardson, is the government concerned? Are they concerned enough to even talk to each other about what we are going to do and what action we are going to take?

Mr. Downey: Madam Speaker, in case the Leader of the Opposition is, I do not want him to be overly concerned because there have been a tremendous number of positive announcements that have been taking place throughout Manitoba over the last weeks and months which have created many thousands of jobs in Manitoba, whether it is in the food processing industry, whether it is in the whole agriculture sector, whether it is in the call centre business and we have had excellent dialogue.

I should, while I am on my feet, though, and I do so at being concerned that in agreeing with Howard Pawley one could be in danger--but there is one particular area that I do have to agree with Howard Pawley, and that was his admission when he said the NDP party knew a very little bit about business or they were very weak in the business acumen, and I think today it is clearly being demonstrated by the Leader of the New Democratic Party that nothing has changed.

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Mr. Doer: I am sure the 400 families that were waiting for a direct answer from this government today will not enjoy the cheap shots from the Deputy Premier. They will want a little sterner stuff in terms of dealing with their economic concerns.

I would like to ask the Deputy Premier, in light of the fact that he has not met with the Premier (Mr. Filmon) for some four weeks about Canadian Pacific plans for the Weston complex after the announcement of the over 300 jobs we are going to lose, has he contacted Canadian Pacific head office as the Minister responsible for Industry, Trade and Tourism in this province, and what response has he received directly from the senior people at CP so that we can give some assurance to the families and workers at Canadian Pacific?

Mr. Downey: Madam Speaker, there is no one that is more interested in the jobs and the families at CP than this government. That is why we lowered the fuel tax for CP Rail and the railroads in this province; that is why we took the 7 percent tax off the manufacturing of products in this province which takes place at Weston Shops. It was this government that gave tax relief to those people, and it was his government that continually put it to them, whether it was sales tax, increased fuel tax, it was his government that tried to drive them out.

The specific question that he asked me, were there discussions about the Weston Shops with the Premier, I said I would take it as notice. There has been no one that has worked harder to maintain the jobs with the rail industry than this party. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would remind all honourable members that there is only one member standing attempting to be recognized, and until such time as I am able to hear the question being posed by the honourable member, you are precluding him from being recognized.

Mr. Doer: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I assume the Deputy Premier has not contacted the officials, which was my question that was not answered in that tirade from the Deputy Premier.

Mr. Gary Doer (Leader of the Opposition): I have a new question to the Acting Premier. Yesterday, the Minister of Justice (Mrs. Vodrey) challenged me to name any judge who would have sided differently around the administration of justice had they known about the Minister of Justice's decisions on intermittent sentences. I would like to quote Judge Jeffrey Oliphant, on October 8, 1996, who stated, and I quote--and he is the associate chief judge of the province--that had he known, he would have not recommended weekend jail sentences in every case; in fact, he would have considered straight time in jail.

I would like to ask the Deputy Premier, in light of the fact the Minister of Justice could not even get it right yesterday when we were asking her questions in this House about a very serious matter, is it the intent of this government to give us a Minister of Justice that will implement the justice system in a fair and reasonable way for all Manitobans and give us the right sentences, right decisions and replace this Minister of Justice?

Hon. James Downey (Deputy Premier): The Leader of the Opposition likes to pretend or present themselves as those people who care about people and less about families. I can assure you this government had to deal with a situation that was certainly not normal. It was an extremely difficult situation, Madam Speaker, of which people, whether it was guards, people who were involved in the events at Headingley that no one has ever had to face in the department of Attorney General in this government that I have known of previously. Those situations were dealt with in the interests of the lives and the interests of those people who were looking after those people. I believe this minister did an excellent job in her capacity in carrying out that responsibility and has explained so over and over again in the last several days. Thank you.

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Mr. Doer: Well, the associate chief judge of this province has just contradicted a statement the Minister of Justice (Mrs. Vodrey) made in this House yesterday. If that is the kind of justice administration that this government is proud about and the Deputy Premier can support, it is certainly not the kind of justice and Justice minister members of this side, and I dare say the public supports, in terms of the province of Manitoba. Over 60 people have received sentences where judges and Crown attorneys did not know from the Minister of Justice what the new emergency policy allegedly was.

I would like to ask the Deputy Premier, does he feel it is appropriate in our justice system where a defence lawyer can plea bargain cases with a Crown attorney, a Crown attorney who does not know about the new arrangements from the provincial government, the judges do not know about the new sentencing arrangements, but the defence lawyers do? Is that the kind of imbalance in the justice system that this Deputy Premier and this Conservative government supports?

Mr. Downey: Madam Speaker, as I indicated, the situation was not a normal situation that had to be dealt with. As well, it is my understanding, clearly as the member has heard, that there was an expression made in this Chamber as to the situation, clearly an open statement that is for the media, for the public, for members here to hear. So I think the matter has been dealt with. There has been an expression and the member is continuing to try to make an issue where there really is not one. Thank you.

Mr. Doer: Madam Speaker, another lawyer confirmed two days ago, judges were setting aside and putting over sentences of cases due to the fact that they did not know what the government policy was. In fact, in the domestic abuse court judges would not provide intermittent sentences because they did not know what was going on in the justice system and, I dare say, they have not known what has gone on in the justice system for literally months.

I would like to ask the Deputy Premier (Mr. Downey) or Acting Premier, is it this government's policy to have such an inadequate Minister of Justice in place so that drunk drivers that are sentenced to jail or domestic abusers that should be going to jail will go free and serve no jail time because of the incompetence of this Minister of Justice?

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, the answer I give today is the answer I gave yesterday and the day before. The issue is, there should have been formal notification. That formal notification did not occur. There is now a process in place so that will not happen again. In addition, formal notification has now been given.

It is clear that I did speak in the House, and it is very interesting that it has taken the other side approximately five months to decide that this is something of a concern. They did not raise the issue earlier. They did not appear to have a quarrel with the issue earlier. However, that does not take away from the responsibility which has been dealt with by me as minister and also by the Department of Justice. That responsibility is to ensure that this kind of communication problem does not happen again, to ensure that it has been corrected, and that is the case.

Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Justice.

The minister's recent publication on domestic violence entitled Stop the Violence states the position of the Manitoba government in the matter of abuse has been characterized as zero tolerance. This means that, subject only to the limits imposed by law, no margin will be afforded to abusers.

My question to the minister is, how can she reconcile this talk with her dismissal and, as we now understand, destabilization of judicial decisions which order prison sentences involving violent crimes, specifically violence against women, domestic violence?

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): No one has done more than this government in the area of domestic violence--no government, especially when you were in government, never.

Madam Speaker, the issue is that the courts provide the sentencing, the Criminal Code does speak to the judges in the area of sentencing. It is up to Corrections to administer that sentence, and we certainly intend to administer the sentences according to our most rigorous standards and more rigorous regulations in Manitoba than are available in other provinces in the country.

But the problem is, we did have a riot. Now, members across the way have raised all kinds of what they have seen as alternatives for placement. Some of those alternatives would involve bringing back some of those offenders to the Headingley area and still being--and that, by the way, is the priority. That, Madam Speaker, is the priority. They would prefer to see that not a priority and they would prefer to put forward having intermittent inmates in the gym without the agreement or the co-operation of Corrections officials.

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Mr. Gord Mackintosh (St. Johns): Perhaps the minister can tell Manitobans, from her lips, exactly how many prison sentences she has nullified over the last approximately half-year and provide a detailed breakdown of the types of offences she has excused without jail time.

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): If that issue was a concern, I am surprised the member for St. Johns did not raise that on May 28. Where was he then? Was it not the subject of some particular media interest at that time that the member did not understand the comments that I made to the House? Was that the problem? It would not be the first time that he failed to understand the information communicated.

Madam Speaker, there is--

Madam Speaker: Order, please.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Opposition House Leader): Madam Speaker, on a point of order. Beauchesne's Citation 417 is very clear that "Answers to questions should be as brief as possible, deal with the matter raised and should not provoke debate."

Madam Speaker, the minister is continuously attempting to deflect from the real question she is being asked, a very specific question in this case as to how many people were excused jail time because of the decisions of this minister. She ought not continue to try and pass off the blame for what has happened in our justice system onto others with irrelevant debate. She should answer the questions that the people of Manitoba are demanding that she answer.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Thompson (Mr. Ashton), I would remind the honourable minister that indeed Citation 417 says the answer should be directly specific to the question being asked.

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Justice, to complete her response.

Mrs. Vodrey: There was a great provocation of debate. Should I have stood up and raised a point of order in the member's comment?

However, Madam Speaker, I have answered over and over again for the past three days how the issue is being dealt with, that the issue is not one that we are happy with. Certainly, I as minister would prefer those individuals--we will review the sentences, if that number specifically will help the member across the way and provide him with the information. It does take some time because I want to make sure that any information provided is entirely accurate and also complete. It is making sure that information is complete in the time of crisis that sometimes takes a little more time.

Mr. Mackintosh: Would the minister, who knows full well that in May she was only talking about those serving weekend sentences at the time of the Headingley riot, tell uswhen her so-called emergency--given that last month she pulled back all the inmates that were in Saskatchewan, and when will judicial decisions in Manitoba once again be implemented by this minister? How long do we have to wait?

Mrs. Vodrey: Madam Speaker, I have explained the reasons for repatriating inmates from other institutions, the requirements that have been met on our side. I have also explained during the process of discussion that we have had to prioritize the movement of inmates within our institutions. That is done by professional correctional officers. Professional correctional officers have to decide when to bring sex offenders back into Headingley Institution, when in fact they can be separated from the general population, how we can also manage to deal with intermittent offenders.

Madam Speaker, I believe that the senior Corrections officials have indicated that we are certainly working towards a time in December, but also I have directed Corrections to come up with a short-term solution that will further provide for the public safety of Manitobans.

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Ms. Jean Friesen (Wolseley): Madam Speaker, the Minister of Justice has made a serious mistake, one in which the scales of justice were weighed in favour of those lawyers who knew of the lack of jail accommodation and against those Crown attorneys and judges who did not know. The minister has offered us numerous explanations, but those explanations are not excuses and this is not a simple administrative error.

Madam Speaker, I want to ask the Deputy Premier to confirm that this is a grave error with serious consequences, and that for Manitobans to have faith in a justice system that is both equal and seen to be equal, that the minister must tender her resignation.

Hon. James Downey (Deputy Premier): Madam Speaker, this matter has been dealt with several times. The minister clearly indicated the public expression, what was taking place when we were facing an extraordinary situation as it related to a prison riot, which, by the way, we as a government and members of this side of the House are extremely pleased that there were not more serious consequences such as loss of human life. Workers, who these people on the other side continually claim to stand up on behalf of, where has their concern gone for those people? It has totally disappeared. It is this government and these members that are standing with the workers and have dealt with it appropriately.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Wolseley, with a supplementary question.

Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Justice to retract her public accusations of dereliction of duty against specific civil servants whom she publicly named by position and who cannot respond because of their oath of confidentiality, and will she take the honourable position of offering her resignation to the Premier (Mr. Filmon) so that Manitobans can have a justice system they perceive to be equal and a civil service which can maintain their honourable tradition of being able to speak truth to power?

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): Madam Speaker, in describing the events, positions were mentioned in terms of responsibility that they have taken, and in the responsibility taken by several senior members of the Justice department, it is important to know that those individuals now have developed a system so this cannot happen again.

In answer to the first part of the question, no, I have no intention of resigning.

Ms. Friesen: Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the Deputy Premier (Mr. Downey) to explain why he believes, according to the Free Press today, that the Minister of Justice is not responsible to ensure memos have been sent out--that is in today's Free Press--when, in fact, The Department of Justice Act, Section 2(b) states clearly that the minister shall see that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with the law.

Will the Deputy Premier again recognize the seriousness of the fundamental integrity of an equal justice system and that the resignation of this minister is required?

Mrs. Vodrey: Madam Speaker, as the members across the way know, a number of actions are done in my name, hundreds and hundreds of them daily, prosecutions as Attorney General, work done in Corrections, decisions made by correctional officers, work done in all areas of the Justice department. As all ministers know, work is done in our name.

However, where there is a problem, where a problem has been revealed, it is absolutely essential that ministers make sure that action is taken to correct it. That is exactly what I have done. That is exactly what has occurred within the Department of Justice. A mechanism is now developed to avoid a future problem such as this and, clearly, I have been the one who stood in the Chamber and made it clear that I did not like what happened. It is not our choice and, in fact, it should not have happened.

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Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education.

At a recent public meeting the issue of closing the Pierre Radisson Collegiate was discussed. At issue was the reduction of funding coming from the province to public schools.

Will the minister make a commitment to the students of Pierre Radisson Collegiate that their school will remain open?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I will take the question as notice simply because I am not familiar with the details of the decision that is being made in that area.

I would indicate to the member, however, that many divisions close schools because of circumstances in their budgets that have nothing to do with the amount of funding they have been given. My own division, for example, has closed 14 schools in the last 20 years because as student population dwindles it is very difficult to downsize as rapidly as the incoming money dictates because of school closure guidelines. I am not sure of the circumstances surrounding that school, but I will look into it.

I will say, however, that the ability to decide which schools, facilities remain open and closed rests with the school division and that is their local autonomous decision to make. Unless the circumstances are extremely unusual, I would not interfere with that decision-making authority.

Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Will the minister also commit to building a community school for kindergarten to Senior 4 for Francophone students in St. Vital?

Hon. Linda McIntosh (Minister of Education and Training): Madam Speaker, again, the Minister of Education does not have direct authority to make those decisions. Decisions and requests for the building of schools, for capital expansion, renovations, et cetera, in schools, those requests are made through the school division to the Public Schools Finance Board. The Public Schools Finance Board considers all requests, puts the issues and requests in priority and then makes decisions, in order of precedence and need, which projects can go ahead in any one given year. So I do not know where that particular request is on the priority list of the Public Schools Finance Board, but they will be the ones to consider that. That is their mandate, and they must do that free from government interference.

Mr. Kowalski: Can the minister tell the members if there is federal funding available for the St. Vital project? If so, why has Manitoba not approached the federal government for those funds?

Mrs. McIntosh: Madam Speaker, this provincial government has been approaching the federal government for extra funds for education on bended knee, grovelling and begging for years. I really like the member for The Maples; I think he is a terrific guy, but I will tell you, on this issue, for a Liberal to stand in the House and ask a provincial Minister of Education why we are not getting more money from Ottawa, given they have cut this year alone the equivalent of the entire operating costs of the University of Manitoba budget from revenues and transfer payments of this province, chutzpah is a really good word to apply to my dear friend from The Maples, because I think it takes a lot of gall to ask that question belonging to the party that he does.

Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, the regional health board act has not even been passed and already the government is breaking contracts, CEOs have been appointed in most regions at the expense of hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money and the government has not even publicly listed the names of all of the people who comprise the boards.

Will the minister today at least release the list of people who are supposed to be representatives on those boards and give us a guarantee that in the future those boards will be elected?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, we are pleased to respond in a positive way to concerns raised by organizations like the Manitoba Medicare Alert Coalition, which has as its members organizations like the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Choices, the Manitoba Council of Health Care Unions, the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, the Manitoba Federation of Labour, the Manitoba Government Employees' Union, the Manitoba Nurses' Union, the Manitoba Society of Seniors, the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities--

Mr. Chomiak: Madam Speaker, on a point of order. Earlier in the House our House leader cited Beauchesne's citation that indicated the minister does not have to answer the question, but the minister should specifically--if the minister does not want to answer the question, he should not provoke debate.

Madam Speaker, I specifically asked the names of members of boards, of the regional health boards, and the minister is reading some kind of list as he is wont to do that has no relationship to those members that comprise the boards of the regional health bodies, and I wish you would call the member to order.

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Health, on the same point of order.

Mr. McCrae: On the same point of order, the foundation for the honourable member's question is his opposition to the establishment of regional authorities through Bill 49. The honourable member wants in some way to get through to you, Madam Speaker, and to other Manitobans, his opposition, and I was simply trying, in response to his question, to let him know that we are trying to be responsive to people with whom he usually locks arms and goes forth in solidarity, and we are trying very hard to try to deal with the concerns, the legitimate concerns that are being raised. I simply was trying to point out to the honourable member that I agree with many of the things that he and his friends in the Medicare Alert Coalition are talking about.

Madam Speaker: On the point of order raised by the honourable member for Kildonan, I do not know who the members are on the board that the honourable member referred to and I do not know if the honourable minister was citing the names of--with representatives of those groups or not.

Some Honourable Members: Oh, oh.

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I am having difficulty assessing whether indeed the honourable member for Kildonan did have a point or order, and given the unco-operative attitude of the House, I will take the matter under advisement and report back at a later date so I can review Hansard.

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Health, to quickly complete his response.

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, I was in the middle of the answer when the honourable member for Kildonan raised his point of order.

The point I was trying to make in telling the honourable member that everyone else out there knows who the members of the regional health authority boards are--but if he wants me to do so, I will compile a list for him and make it available to him. The reason for his raising the question is to point out his opposition to what the Manitoba Medicare Alert Coalition favours, so we find the honourable member on the wrong side of that fence today, Madam Speaker..

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Kildonan, with a supplementary question.

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Mr. Dave Chomiak (Kildonan): Madam Speaker, my supplementary to the minister.

Is the minister aware that one of the chairs of the politically appointed board, the chair of the board, Mr. Tony Lefko, a good friend of the Minister of Highways (Mr. Findlay) I might add, according to the paper, Madam Speaker, that this individual spent six months of the year in Texas and listed on his list of phone numbers for being on the board is his Texas phone number, has already been away, and they had to deal with board business via conference call? Is the minister aware that this politically appointed person listed his number in Texas as a number for the board?

Hon. James McCrae (Minister of Health): Madam Speaker, as I was saying to the honourable member, the Manitoba Medicare Alert Coalition, one of its proposals is that we develop and maintain an integrated approach to health promotion, that we establish and support regional authorities for health and health care planning and delivery through appropriate legislation and regulatory support, and now the honourable member does not want to support that. It recommends that the primary mechanism for this system would be a regional envelope for all health--

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would remind the honourable Minister of Health that indeed he should respond to the question asked, and a specific question was asked.

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, the honourable member, who complains that Bill 49 confers all kinds of powers on the Minister of Health that ought not to be held in the hands of the Minister of Health, now wants to take issue with the fact that the board of a particular region, in this case the North Eastman Region, is dealing with the very problem the honourable member raises in the House today and now he wants me to do that, but he opposes a bill which allows certain powers to the minister. The honourable member cannot always have it all ways.

Mr. Chomiak: Will the minister not agree, and I will table the Texas listing here, that if the public had an opportunity to vote for their board chairpersons they might be interested in the fact that a board chairperson spends a considerable time of the year in Texas and not in Manitoba dealing with board business, dealing with regional business and dealing with very important health issues, and does that not make sense for elective boards?

Mr. McCrae: Madam Speaker, I am sure if the public was clearly aware that the honourable member for Kildonan, the Health critic for the New Democratic Party and all of his colleagues, including his Leader, the honourable member for Concordia (Mr. Doer), if the public knew that these honourable members were opposed to a better opportunity to attract and retain physicians in rural Manitoba, if the public knew that honourable members opposite were opposed to the integration and improvement of our health services, I know which way they would be voting. They would not be voting for honourable members opposite.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): All this week we have seen the unravelling of what little credibility the Minister of Justice has in this province, the same Minister of Justice who talked about in-your-face justice and meaningful consequences, and all week we have seen the minister deny her responsibility for her own actions.

I would like to ask a question, though, about the fact that the minister continues to mislead this House, and in particular, when she referenced May 28. I want to quote what she said on May 28, when she said, we need to have some clarification around that, so other than give a definite answer--

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Madam Speaker: Order, please. Would the honourable member please pose his question now.

Mr. Ashton: I am posing my question, Madam Speaker. I am asking when the minister will indicate that what she said on May 28 referred to those who were on TA at that point in time, and when she will indicate at what time she made the decision and her department made the decision to let out those individuals who were sentenced after May 28 to be allowed to not serve jail time as was their sentence, as we have demonstrated in the cases of at least 60 convicted individuals.

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): We covered the issue the other day. We covered the issue of my comments. We covered the following question of the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh). We covered his assumption that people were released on TAs, and we covered the fact that even a couple of days ago I made it clear to the House that people were released on TAs, that that was the mechanism.

The member raises nothing new. All of these issues have been dealt with. All of these issues have been spoken about openly by me. The corrections that have occurred as a result have also been openly spoken by me, and there has been a clear acknowledgment that this is not the way we like it; the communication should have happened.

Madam Speaker: The honourable member for Thompson, with a supplementary question.

Mr. Ashton: Well, Madam Speaker, I asked the minister, and I will ask her again, when was this decision made to, in effect, put a no-vacancy sign up on our justice system in Manitoba and end up in a situation where people who were convicted of offences after May 28, up until as recently as yesterday, were receiving sentences in Manitoba which were not being carried out by this Minister of Justice? When was the decision made?

Mrs. Vodrey: I am not sure the member has made his question clear, so I may have to read Hansard to actually figure out what he is trying to ask. In terms of the dates, I spoke openly virtually every day. On the day of the riot, I held a press conference and spoke openly. On the Monday, the first day back in the Legislature, I spoke openly. I have openly given to the people of Manitoba the information which has been provided to me in as complete a form as possible.

We find out that at times we needed to add further information to that. As soon as that was discovered, then that was given openly to the House. The information has been provided to the Legislature, as is my responsibility. The information has been provided to the media. It is being provided by way of statements. So if there is another date that I can provide to the member, I will endeavour to do so. However, members on the other side have virtually no credibility in the area of public safety.

Mr. Ashton: Madam Speaker, once again I will ask the very straightforward question, because the minister is not answering the question.

There have been numerous individuals who received sentences. When did the minister make the decision not to enforce those sentences? Was that a decision made by her or by cabinet? When was the decision made? Who made the decision? When will she come clean with the facts about why for the last five months in this province people have been receiving sentences in our court system which are not being implemented?

Madam Speaker: Order, please. I would remind all honourable members that Beauchesne is very clear that a question should consist of a single question.

Mrs. Vodrey: As I made clear at the time of the riot, decisions regarding temporary absences are made by professional correctional officers. Now, if there is another date that I can add for the member's information, I will make every effort to find that date for him.

However, Madam Speaker, I want to make it clear to the people of Manitoba. All of the information available has been given openly to the people of Manitoba, to the other side. Members across the way continue to try and find something, some stone left unturned. That is simply not the case. I have answered as openly as information has become available.

Mr. Steve Ashton (Thompson): On a new question.

Madam Speaker: On a new question.

Mr. Ashton: We have seen in the last few weeks in this country where the Minister of Defence has resigned because he accepted responsibility for what had happened, for a letter on behalf of a constituent. We have seen a situation where the Minister of Defence has resigned. We see a situation where nobody has any faith in the credibility of this minister, except perhaps the Deputy Premier (Mr. Downey).

I would like to ask the Minister of Justice, will she not do the honourable thing not only in terms of the honour of this House but also to restore confidence in the justice system by resigning and allowing a new minister to attempt to clean up the mess that has been established in this province in the last five months?

Madam Speaker: The honourable Minister of Justice, to give a very short response.

Hon. Rosemary Vodrey (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): The answer is short. No.

Madam Speaker: Time for Oral Questions has expired.